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Remains of 3 Women Found Near SE DC Apartment Building

Two more sets of human remains have been uncovered behind a Southeast D.C. apartment building where construction workers recently found a human skull, a medical examiner's office official said. News4's Darcy Spencer reports. (Published Sunday, April 29, 2018)

Two more sets of human remains have been uncovered behind a Southeast D.C. apartment building where construction workers recently found a human skull, a medical examiner's office official said.

The human remains were uncovered at the apartment on Wayne Place Southeast on Saturday, one day after officials confirmed the remains found at the apartment on Wednesday are human.

The medical examiner's office confirmed all three sets of remains were of women.

A construction crew excavating an area near the Congress Heights apartment building called police on Wednesday and reported they had discovered apparent skeletal remains. Sources told News4 the construction workers found what appeared to be human remains.

On Thursday, forensics investigators identified two other locations behind the building where there also appeared to be human remains. One of the areas is in the backyard, near a dumpster; the other is in a wooded area behind the building.

The medical examiner confirmed on Friday that the first set of remains are human, police said. Police then opened a death investigation.

More human remains were found on Saturday, the D.C. medical examiner's office told News4. Three sets of remains have been uncovered, police said, and all have been determined to belong to women.

The medical examiner's office initially wasn't clear on the number of bodies found.

Police went door to door speaking to neighbors and used a metal detector in their sweep of the scene. One neighbor said she saw a police dog sniffing around the apartment.

It was not immediately clear how long the remains had been there, or how they got there. Recovery efforts will continue, police say.

After the initial discovery, neightbors expressed concern.

"It's insane. To find human remains -- it's not OK," neighbor Ikea Jones said. "We have children in the neighborhood. They play. They do a lot, and it's a quiet neighborhood, a beautiful neighborhood, and everyone here is cool."